Sound-deadening and balancing means for railway wheels



Patented July 29, 1952 Y, QSioUND-D'DE 2 Claims.

The invention relates to railway car wheels, and particularly to sound-deadening means for such wheels which can also be readily used as balancing means for the wheels.

The railway-travelling public is becoming more and more noise conscious and a sizable proportion of the noise resulting from railway car operation has been traced to the wheels. Various means have been proposed t silence the noises arising from the high frequency vibrations of the wheels, but so far none of these has furnished a satisfactory solution of the problem.

It is a main object of the invention to provide a sound-deadening attachment for the Wheels of a railway car, which is simple in form, readily attached to the Wheel and which effectively deadens the sounds emanating from the wheels.

It is a further object of ther invention to combine with such sound-deadening means a means whereby the wheels may be readily balanced. Heretofore, such unbalance has resulted, p-articularly in high speed operation, in further increase in noise and increased wear on the wheels and rails and on the parts associated therewith.

I'hese objects are in a large part attained by securing, to a readily prepared undercut annular seat or seats on the radially inner side of the rim of a wheel, a continuous sound-deadening ring or rings of a material, preferably mainly metal,v differing from the material of the wheel, and by associating with such ring or rings means for readily bringing the wheel into balance, as by forming an integral enlargement on the radially inner side of the ring at one portion of its circumference.

These and other objects and the manner in which they are attained will become evident from the following detailed description when read in connection with the drawings forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a wheel equipped with the invention as seen from the outside;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the wheel, the sec-` tion being taken substantially along the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View of the sound-deadening ring prior to its assembly with the wheel; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the ring, showing it in greater detail.

The railway car Wheel shown in the drawings is a usual forged and machined car wheel, of iron or steel, having a hub portion I Il, a wheel body web II and a rim I2 projecting axially on nated by I 4. It is preferably made of two rings I5 and vIt of a metal, such as brass, different from that of the wheel, joined by a thin annulus of rubber Il vulcanized to the rings. The radially outer face of the ring I4 is inclined similarly to the inclination of the undercut seat I3 on the radially inner face of the rim, and the axiallyV inner ring I6 may be bevelled as at I8, to clear the enlargement I9 of the web II where it joins the rim I2 of the wheel. Y

The ring I4, prior to its insertion in the wheel, is made of somewhat larger diameter than the diameter of the seat I3. It is then cooled to a low temperature, as by packing it in Dry Ice, which causes it to shrink to a diameter permitting it to be moved axially in alignment with the seat I 3 on the wheel rim. As it returns to normal temperature it expands and becomes securely locked to the seat I3 so `as not to loosen under Y normal operating conditions.

By lactual test it has been found that4 the dimensions of the ring are more or less critical, the best results having been obtained by a ring of approximately 1A; sq. in. cross-section used with the ordinary size car wheels.

Sucha ring can be readily used also to balance the wheels, which are normally found to be out of balance, vsometimes as much as several s pounds. To this end the ring I4 is formed on its radially inner side and at one portion of its circumference by an integral inward enlargement or projection 2B. To balance the wheel, the ring is inserted in the wheel, with this projection opposite the heavy side of the wheel, and the weight is then adjusted to the proper amount to correct the unbalance bygrinding or machining off a portion of the projection, as indicated by the dotted line 2| in Fig. 1.

While a specific form of the invention has been described herein in detail, it will be understood that changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

' 1. In a railway wheel, a rim having an annular face on its radially inner side and a continuous sound-deadening ring of a material diiering from that of the Wheel secured tightly on said 5 face, said ring comprising two metal annuli Number seated on'said,faceandsinterconnectedfwith each" 1,864',906 other byfafrubber annulus. 1,813,8205. 2. In a railway wheel, a rim having an annular 1,852,538 face on its radially inner side and a continuous-5105; 1,852,789 sound-deadening ring of a material.. diering.Nr 2,3,34,285. from that of the wheel secured "tightlygonf'sait 2','336',S12f1";` face. said ring comprising two metal annuli Y seated on said face and interconnectedwi-tlifieaclfif, j other by a rubber annulus,`alffleast#oneoffsaidf15:NmmwlF metal annuli having an integral radially enlarged portion thereon for balancing the SW1-'leche MICHAEL WATTER.'

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Wemp -..May; 12, 1981 Ross: July:7, 1931 Peterson Apr. 5, 1932 Peterson Apr. 5, 1932 Phillip Nov. 16, 1943 B'eaman Dec. 14, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date GreahBritain Apr. 26, 1925 Gr'reatA Britain Apr. 3, 1936 

